IRVING — Martellus Bennett isn’t a changed man. He is still flamboyant and outspoken. And he is the same athletic tight end he has always been.

But as Bennett returns to Cowboys Stadium on Sunday for the first time since leaving the organization that drafted him, the perception of him is remarkably different than it once was. Bennett is no longer seen as some goofy sideshow, a wasted talent with the Cowboys that many thought had become the epitome of the phrase, “All hat and no cattle.”

In New York, with the defending Super Bowl champion Giants, Bennett’s career has been revived like a successful play that flopped in its first run on Broadway. In seven games, he has 25 receptions for 305 yards and three touchdowns, reaching the end zone one less time than he did in four seasons with the Cowboys.

As Bennett has caught more passes than big-name tight ends such as San Francisco’s Vernon Davis and San Diego’s Antonio Gates, he has earned praised from curmudgeonly Giants coach Tom Coughlin and many of his teammates. Earlier this week, defensive end Justin Tuck was so enthused about Bennett’s performance he delivered a message of gratitude to the Cowboys.

“I appreciate y’all for letting him go,” he said on a conference call.

The comment was meant to sting. But in reality the Cowboys seem to have no regrets about not retaining Bennett. After all, the breakup between the Cowboys and Bennett was a mutual understanding. Following four pedestrian seasons in which he caught 85 passes for 846 yards and four touchdowns, the 2008 second-round draft pick determined he would seek greater opportunities elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent.

The Cowboys, painfully aware that Bennett never maximized his potential and reluctantly accepted his unsexy role, weren’t eager to re-sign him.

But while both parties were happy to part ways, Bennett has expressed some bitterness about his tenure with the Cowboys since signing a one-year, $2.5 million with the Giants in March. He has taken veiled shots at quarterback Tony Romo. He has hinted that his growth as a playmaker was stunted by the presence of seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten. In training camp, he even said he had “ill feelings” towards the Cowboys.

This week, he toned down the rhetoric when asked if he was anticipating yet another chance to prove his worth to his former team.

“I have nothing to show the Cowboys,” Bennett said.

After all, they have seen it all — the good, the bad and the ugly. But out of those three outcomes some wonder why Dallas saw No. 2 and No. 3 more than No. 1 at the same time they notice the Giants extracting better results from Bennett.

“He played well for us,” he said. “The only difference is he’s able to start there, and when you start there you get more opportunities.”

With the Cowboys, Bennett’s chances were few and far between, in part because he squandered the ones he was given. He dropped 12 passes during his run with the Cowboys.

“There was some times where he didn’t make the plays, but we had confidence in him to throw him the football,” coach Jason Garrett said.

The evidence suggests otherwise. He was never targeted more than 48 times in a season despite the fact the Cowboys used him regularly. During 2011, when Bennett played 428 snaps, Dallas lined up with multiple tight ends 53 percent of the time. Bennett was on the field plenty, and as the second option behind Witten he was generally assigned to block.

Bennett did the grunt work well and was rated the fifth-best offensive player on the Cowboys last season, according to ProFootballFocus.com. But he yearned to be a playmaker, and he seemed to realize that he would remain in Witten’s shadow as long as both were in Dallas.

Assessing Bennett’s situation, Cowboys reserve tight end John Phillips said, “He took the opportunity to go somewhere else, where he could potentially see more balls and get in more routes. It’s not a surprise he’s doing well up there. He obviously has the all of the skills and intangibles to be a good tight end.”

He had them all along. But now everybody is seeing them, including the team he left behind.

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